If you are buying a Savannah for size, you must read my article on this site 'Early Generation Savavnnahs ' before making your decision! Buyer tips and breeder jargon explained!

Buying a new kitten is an exciting time for people. Despite researching breeders time and time again it can be very difficult to make the right decision. I have attempted to put together a checklist of things to look for when buying your Savannah kitten. A precious and expensive purchase which you need to get right, because after all, that's a little life you are caring for. Common sense rules apply with buying a Savannah as it does every other breed. Make sure that the kitten is healthy as far as you can. Clear eyed and full of energy. First, know what you are looking for in your perfect Savannah.

Looking for good Savannah 'Type'? - Savannah Vs Bengal

We've bred both Bengals and Savannahs for a while now. However we do find that people can get confused between the two whilst the Savannah breed is still relatively unknown in the UK, so this part of our buying guide is to help people who are looking for good 'typey' (jargon for conforming to breed type) Savannahs.

We are able to do this by showing photographs of our own Bengals and Savannahs and a couple of little surprises that turned up early in September. Our Bengal girl, Dollycats Miss Python came into season very soon after her last litter of Bengal kittens. We had no idea that our Savannah boy - then only four months old and still inside with us (and Miss Python!) - had a couple of tricks up his sleeve. That is, until Python presented us with two gorgeous, though unexpected, Savannah Bengal cross kittens!

"Typey Bengal" Meet Champion Dollycats Felony. Felony is our homebred Bengal queen and is of superb Bengal type. In a Bengal a few things you look for: a) a 'cobby' (stocky) body. Legs fairly short, stocky, large paws. b) round eyes, smallish ears, round face c) large spots or 'rosettes' - the two tone spots you can see on Felony's coat here.

Teardrops Trouble	Teardrops Franco	Teardrops Franco
Teardrops Cheeky Charlie
"Typey" Savannahs Meet Teardrops Trouble, Teardrops Franco and Teardrops Cheeky Charlie. Compare with the Bengal. Here you will find a) a lean leggy body, small oval, almost 'dainty' paws. b) slightly hooded eyes (a little spoiled here by Trouble's look of surprise as I take his picture - but illustrated admirably by Franco in the third picture) large ears, and a pointed face. c) small closed spots In addition to these characteristics, you can find ocelli (also known as 'night eyes') on the ears, which is demonstrated by Teardrops Cheeky Charlie, tear stains (as demonstrated by Teardrops Trouble) and in a few, but exciting cases, the black Serval nose (as demonstrated by Trouble).

Spot the Difference!

Here I have shown a picture, taken immediately above our Savannah and Savannah x Bengal cross kitten. It is very hard to tell the difference from the coat from this angle.

Note the ocelli, a Savannah characteristic, is shown clearly on both of these kittens. Yet one is pure Savannah, one is a Savannah x Bengal.

However from these pictures you should be able to tell the difference between the two.

The first picture, on the far left, is of our Savannah x Bengal. Note the much rounder head and smaller ears. The second picture, immediately left, is of our Savannah, Captain Peacock. Captain Peacock's ears are much larger and his face is much longer.

In years gone by, Savannah breeders have used the Bengal breed in their programme as an obvious outcross to the Serval. However the Bengal genes were soon found to dominate, and smother some of the characteristics breeders were attempting to bring out in their Savannahs. The Bengal is no longer a 'permissible outcross' for registered Savannah kittens, so is rarely used in Savannah breeding programmes. However there are still some Savannahs out there that retain a lot of Bengal characteristics and only over time will we see the Bengal characteristics squeezed out of the breeding programmes as better, typeyer looking cats are produced.

Meet the Breed

Buying your kitten isn't all about showing.. indeed many of you will buy your kitten as a pet. This part of the guide is for those of you that want to find the perfect 'specimen' and intend to show. Pet purchasers may find this part interesting anyway, so do read on if you are. Otherwise skip down to the section starting 'The Breeder'.

Reproduced below, from TICA.org is the Savannah breed standard. You may also click on this link to get a printable copy direct from TICA.

The numbers at the top represent the number of points awarded when showing your cat. A perfect show cat will get near maximum marks for all areas of the breed standard.

For example there's a maximum number of 40 points awarded for your cats head, broken down into shape, ears, eyes, chin, muzzle, profile, nose and neck. Below the point scoring system is a description of what the perfect Savannah is considered to need to score maximum points. So if your Savannah has a chin that 'from the frontal view .... tapers to follow the triangle of the head.... [and is] very shallow without much depth.' then your Savannah will score the maximum 7 points to count towards its head score.

Savannah Breed Standard, 05/01/2008 Revised 09/05/08

HEAD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 points
Shape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Ears. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Eyes .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Muzzle. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Nose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Neck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
BODY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 points
Torso. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Legs .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Feet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Tail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Boning. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Musculature. . . . . . . . . 8
COAT/COLOR/PATTERN.20 points
Texture. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CATEGORY: Traditional.
DIVISIONS: Solid, Tabby and Silver/Smoke Division.
COLORS: Black, Brown Spotted Tabby, Silver Spotted

HEAD:
Shape: The face forms an equilateral triangle. The top of the triangle is the brow line over the eyes; the sides follow down the jaw bone meeting at the chin. The triangle excludes the ears. The head is small in proportion to the body.

Ears: Ears are extremely large and high on the head. They are wide with a deep base and rounded tops. The inside base of the ears is set close at the top of the head. Ear furnishings may be present; pronounced ocelli are desirable.

Hello, Big Ears!
F2 girl A1Savannahs Zema of Teardrops shows off those big ears!
She also has striking ocelli (which unfortuantely cannot be seen here)

Ocelli from Teardrops Cheeky Charlie
F3 boy Teardrops Cheeky Charlie shows off his Ocelli (the markings on the ears), which are 'desirable' in a Savannah!

Eyes: Medium sized and set underneath a slightly hooded brow. The top of the eye resembles a boomerang set at the exact angle so that the corner of the eye slopes down the line of the nose. The bottom half of the eye has an almond shape. The eyes are moderately deep set, low on the forehead, and at least one eye width apart. Tear stain markings are present along and between the eye and the nose. All eye colors are allowed and are independent of coat color.

The Eyes Have it!
F6 boy Teardrops Franco shows off his boomerang shaped eyes!

Tearstains from Teardrops Trouble
F3 boy Teardrops Trouble (shown on the left) has beautiful teardrops and a much coveted black Serval like nose!

Chin: From the frontal view the chin tapers to follow the triangle of the head. In profile, the chin is very shallow without much depth.

Muzzle: The muzzle is a tapered muzzle with no break. It falls within the bottom portion of the facial triangle that runs from the brow to the point of the chin.

Profile: The forehead is a straight to slightly convex curve from the top of the head to the ridge just above the eye where there is a slight change of direction and a straight to very-slight concave curve from that ridge to the tip of the nose. In profile, the face also forms a triangle from the top of the eye to the tip of the nose, turning to follow the jaw line and back up to the eye.

Nose: Viewing from the front, the nose is wide across the top with low set nostrils. In profile, there is a slight downward turn at the end, giving a rounded appearance. Nose leather is slightly convex not flat.

Neck: Long and lean.

BODY:

Torso: A semi-foreign body type with a full deep rib cage and a slight, but not extreme, tuck-up and a rounded rump. The hip and thigh are full and long and somewhat heavy in proportion to the rest of the body.

Legs: Very long and slender yet strong. Back legs are slightly longer than the front legs, and due to this extreme length, may now and then give a false appearance of being cow-hocked.

Feet: Oval, small to medium, with elongated toes.

Tail: Medium to thick in width. Medium in length, ending between the hock and just above ground level when standing with preferred length just below the hock. Tail should taper slightly to a blunt end.

The Breeder

Make sure your breeder suits you. You will be in contact with this person for quite some time if you reserve your kitten early. Will your breeder keep you updated with your kitten's progress? Does he/she answer your calls/emails promptly? In other words, will you be left hanging once you have placed your deposit? Does he or she offer fulltime support with any queries you may have once you get your little one home?

Meet the Parents

Most breeders will have both mum and dad on site. If they do not, make sure the reason given sounds genuine. Perhaps return when the parents are back on site.

Common Sense

Adverts in free newspapers belonging to a bloke in a dirty mac with some poor little kittens in a dirty shed should obviously be avoided. Legitimate breeders do advertise in free newspapers of course, but if you visit the owner of the free-ad and they are bringing their kittens up in poor conditions you can be sure that these are not Savannahs. Don't be tempted to buy the poor kittens as a rescue effort. Instead call the RSPCA and report the person who is selling these kittens.

Check our forum regularly for reports of the latest Savannah scams.

Don't be tempted to buy a 'cheap Savannah'. If you are offered a kitten for a ridiculously low price, then avoid it. Rarely you may see retired Savannahs for sale for which you can expect to pay a 'nominal sum'. Prices do range from breeder to breeder, as does quality so you will see some movement in price, but nothing as low as a couple of hundred pounds for a genuine Savannah.

Raised Underfoot

Avoid buying kittens that are not brought up in the home and underfoot. If they are very young and outside, avoid them.

The best way for a breeder to socialise kittens is to live with them day in and day out. You may find the kittens are penned, particularly in a multi-litter household. This is normal, and is the equivalent of putting babies in their cot when they become tired and fractious.

Avoid the kitten cowering in the corner. If the kitten is cowering it is not properly socialised. Pick the cat that picks you. Allow yourself ample time during your visit to just relax with the kittens and you should find that at least one gets bored with playing and will approach you. Joanna Lumley recently wore one of our Savannah kittens as a hat when she was interviewing us recently for her documentary later in 2009! Expect this and more from one of our Teardrops Savannahs!!!

Some kittens will be pre-disposed to being more cautious than the others. Like humans, some cats are born quieter and shyer than their siblings. If you can pick up and handle the cat that appears to be quieter than the others, and you would like a slightly quieter cat, then this is the one for you!

Paperwork - Argh!

Paperwork goes some way to supporting a breeders credibility. Unfortunately for the novice cat buyer it can be very hard to distinguish 'real' paperwork from fake paperwork, so here are some pointers.

Contracts are a usual part of buying a pedigree kitten. Expect to sign a contract at some point during the purchase. This contract should act as a warranty for your kitten (to safe-guard you against buying a kitten with congenital defects), and to ensure you do not 'mis-use' the kitten (for example, reselling to a pet shop). Make sure that there is a clause in the contract that offers you a replacement kitten if the worst should happen and the kitten dies due to a congenital problem.

If no paperwork is shown for the parents, steer clear. It's quite usual for the kitten's paperwork not to have been generated whilst the kittens are still not reserved, so don't expect to see the kitten's actual paperwork on your visit.

Ask if they have a TICA certified pedigree for the parents. Some Savannah breeders may offer their own paper copy of the mum and dad's pedigree. Whilst this does not mean that the pedigree is not right, it does not give you the same security as seeing a TICA certified pedigree. TICA certified pedigrees have the words 'The International Cat Association Certified pedigree' across the top with a silver TICA sticker to the top right of the pedigree. If they cannot produce a pedigree of any type, steer clear.

For cats being sold as early generation cats our advice is now that you must ask to see the mother's TICA certified pedigree certificate. You need to find a Serval on the TICA pedigree certificate.

Ask the breeder if they will provide a TICA certified pedigree for you, if you choose to buy the kitten. Most breeders will offer this, although they may ask for a nominal charge - TICA certified pedigrees need to be paid for.

Leaving Home

Expect your Savannah kitten to leave their breeding home either neutered or spayed if they are going to live with you as a pet. This is common practice so far with most breeders.